July 12, 2021 – A former Newfoundland investment advisor is facing two dozen criminal charges, related to allegations of fraud and forgery.

Joan McCarthy, 53, is set to make a first appearance on the charges Tuesday morning at provincial court in St. John’s.

That’s just two days before McCarthy is scheduled to face a separate disciplinary hearing by the regulator that oversees all investment dealers in the country.

The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, or IIROC, has accused McCarthy of falsifying signatures and appropriating $775,000 from the accounts of six elderly clients over a 13-year period.

The criminal charges span the same time frame, from 2006 to 2019, and the same number of alleged victims.

McCarthy is facing 24 counts in total — six each of fraud over $5,000, forgery, using a forged document, and possession of property obtained by crime. CBC News reports. | READ MORE